Mothers’ Day:      Thank you to all of the children who visited the pop up Mothers’ day shop in the week commencing 4^th March - this was a huge success and the children enjoyed choosing a special gift for their loved ones. On Friday 8^th March, many of you will have taken part in our Mothers’ Day afternoon tea and enjoyed quality time in school with your children.

 

World Book Day: On Thursday 7^th March, children (and staff) were invited to dress up as a word or book character to acknowledge World Book Day. There were lots of inventive ideas including Theo (Year 3) dressed as cool, Evie (Year 4) dressed as creative and Zack (Year 6) dressed as injured. The staff also made a great effort – Miss Wilson was colourful and Miss Maxwell was Mr Bump. The children began the day by listening to a story read by a different teacher and there were various other book related activities for the children to enjoy throughout the day. This included, the children in Key Stage 1 going on a book hunt and the children in Year 2 making bear toast, after hearing the story, Bear Likes Jam.

 

Careers Week:      Several Year 6 children had the opportunity to attend careers information talks this week. A group went to Alderman's Green school for a session with Tech She Can, a charity who work to improve the ratio of women working in technology roles. We then welcomed children from Potter's Green and St Laurence’s, who joined us on Thursday 7^th March for talks from a transport safety officer, the National Grid, Coventry Music Service and a farmer. The children then shared the information with the rest of Year 6. The speakers all commented on how well behaved the children were and what insightful questions they asked.

 

Fourteen girls from Year 6 had the opportunity to take part in a workshop called 'Tech She Can' on Wednesday 6^th March. During the workshop, the children learnt about a range of jobs that involve technology such as animators, special effects editors, app/gaming developers, programming, making flying cars and planning drone light shows. They even had the chance to play with the 'Sphero Student Kit' for coding a robot named Indi, which they all thoroughly enjoyed. The children were also introduced to an app called 'Quiver Vision' which allows you to create your own augmented reality character. Everybody had an amazing morning at the workshop and some of the girls are even planning to get a job in technology when they're older!

 

1ET Class Assembly:         On Wednesday 6^th March, we enjoyed a super assembly by 1ET, who have been learning all about the earth and how pollution and litter is damaging our environment and what we can do to make it better. They ended their assembly with a lovely song – “What a Wonderful World.”

 

CO Crew Visit:    Year 5 took part in a workshop led by The CO Crew on Wednesday 6^th March. They learned about carbon monoxide and the dangers of being exposed to it. They were taught that they can keep themselves safe by looking for warning signs and by using a carbon monoxide detector. 

 

Read Write Inc:   On Wednesday 6^th March, we invited our Year 1 parents in to school to find out how their children are being taught phonics and to experience a Read Write Inc session – we hope that you enjoyed it and picked up some top tips on how you can support your child at home.

 

5LM’s Class Assembly: On Friday 1^st March, we enjoyed 5LM’s class assembly – the children have been learning all about the French Revolution and how this historical event enabled the people of France today, to enjoy liberty and equality. Asher and Marafi played King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, whilst Bogdan was a very dramatic Napoleon. Thanks to 5LM – you have clearly learnt a lot on this topic.

 

3SHG’s Class Assembly:    Thank you 3SHG for sharing the story of The Barnabus Project with us on Wednesday 28^th March. This was all about creatures being valued as individuals, despite their differences. As well as retelling the story, the children shared some of the non-chronological reports which they had written about it, as well as some of the key messages about having a positive mind, being proud of who we are and not being afraid to make mistakes. They finished off by singing 'This is Me' which was so popular they repeated it at the end!

 

Safety Seymour in Year 2: Safety Seymour is a fun and colourful character who has an important message to share about gas safety in the home, and the dangers of Carbon Monoxide (or CO) poisoning in particular. The session (on Wednesday 28^th March) focused on educating children in a fun and engaging way on the dangers of carbon monoxide, what the symptoms are and also how to stay carbon monoxide safe. All of our children were fortunate enough to take home a carbon monoxide alarm, safety certificate and keyring with the contact number for families to call if they have any concerns around carbon monoxide in the home. Additional information can be found via www.safetyseymour.co.uk

 

Life Skills Curriculum: Changes have been made to enhance our PSHE and SRE curriculum. At Moat House, our young people will now learn ‘Life Skills’ which has nine areas of learning; Safety, Feelings and Mental Health, Bullying and Discrimination, Relationships, Community and Respect, Physical Health, Money and Careers, Digital Safety and Growing and Changing. All of our lessons will be based around story books to support children’s learning and their understanding of all areas of our new curriculum. We aim for pupils to know how to be safe and healthy as well as how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way!

Cool to be Kind week:   Friday 23^rd February was the last day of Cool to be Kind week, which was a great success. Children were even kinder and more helpful than usual and achieved stickers for their actions. Well done everyone!

 

Bikeability:      5JK were excited to begin their Bikeability sessions on Wednesday 21^st February. They were taught about how to stay safe when riding a bike by two of the instructors and could identify faults that would make a bike unsafe to ride, such as a worn tyre. The class are really looking forward to their session next week. 

 

Thinktank Trip: On Wednesday 21^st February, Year 3 visited the Thinktank science museum in Birmingham. We visited the many fascinating exhibits, where we saw and learned about skeletons of dinosaurs, explored how our body works and were able to see a Spitfire aircraft and find out how it was built and used during the Second World War. The highlight of our day was the 'Luminous Light' show, where we explored what objects are sources of light and had fun telling stories using shadows. Using what they have learned in our science lessons this year, the children could give some fantastic explanations about how light travels. We all had a brilliant time and learned lots of new and interesting scientific facts!

 

Lego Fun:        On Tuesday 20^th February, we welcomed parents with their children into school for our third after school Lego event. There were lots of interesting Lego creations and we would like to thank all of the families who have participated so far. Look out for more events coming soon.

 

School Council Visit: On Wednesday 7^th February, our School Council were lucky enough to visit the Council House in the city centre. They met the Deputy Lord Mayor who answered lots of questions about her role and gave them a tour of the special rooms in the Council House. The children were fascinated by the chambers and were even allowed to visit the Lord Mayor’s office and sit on his special seat, which we’ve never been allowed to do before! The children had a wonderful time and were all perfectly behaved! 

 

Read Write Inc: On Wednesday 7^th February, we welcomed our Reception parents in to school to find out how we teach phonics at Moat House, using Read Write Inc. They also enjoyed observing their own children participating in their phonics lesson. Please can you support your children with their reading at home, especially during the holidays. Thank you.

 

Mood Boost Workshop: On Monday 5^th February, Year 3 took part in a 'Mood Boost' workshop led by Coventry Mental Health in Schools. The children spent the afternoon learning about what low mood is and what the signs of low mood can be, such as eating or sleeping more or less than usual and losing interest in things they would normally enjoy. They then thought about ways in which they can boost their mood and took part in some activities - including some fun games - to see how they felt afterwards. They learned that the five steps to mental wellbeing are to: take notice, keep learning, be active, connect and give. The children participated fantastically during the session and agreed that they had learned some extremely useful mood boosting skills. 

 

Kapsch Careers Talk:     We were fortunate to have a visit from Shari, a Business Manager at Kapsch on Friday 2^nd February. They are responsible for the software that manages smart motorways and a variety of other traffic solutions, eg traffic lights 'knowing' when to change as a car approaches and early warning of accidents on roads which allow Satnavs to suggest alternative routes. Shari explained how an interest in IT and coding could lead to someone working as a software engineer or coder at companies like Kapsch. KS2 children listened with interest as she described the jobs that are available at Kapsch and what children would need to study at primary and secondary school to prepare them for a job in IT.

 

Non-Uniform Day:           Thank you to everyone for your support in wearing non-uniform on Friday 2^nd February in exchange for providing cat food and/or treats for our local charity “Fagin’s Waifs and Strays.” Kirsty and Pat will be delighted with your contributions.

 

Read Write Inc in Reception: On Wednesday 31^st January, we welcomed our Reception parents in to school to find out how we teach phonics at Moat House, using Read Write Inc. They also enjoyed observing their own children participating in their phonics lesson.

 

Star School: In the week starting Monday 29^th January, Evie, Hishaam, Ashfaina (Year 4) and Aisha (Year 2) made their radio debut on BBC’s CWR Star School feature. Everyday this week, we have enjoyed listening to our children talk about their views on the news, as well as what they love about Moat House - we even heard from some of our superstar Teaching Assistants: Mrs Bivens and Mrs Shirley, who pretended they were shy about being on the radio! If you missed it, you can catch up on BBC Sounds.

 

Dol-y-Moch:    From Wednesday 24^th January, our Year 6 children spent an action-packed week at Dol-y-Moch. They had the opportunity to participate in lots of exciting activities, including: canoeing, kayaking, rock scrambling, climbing mountains and exploring mines. Some children climbed up a waterfall inside a mine to reach the top of it! All of the children showed great resilience when facing new challenges and with a little encouragement, many were able to overcome their fears. The Dol-y-Moch staff commented on what a resilient, respectful and determined group of children we had in Year 6. If you would like to see photographs of the children during their adventures, there are lots on the Moat House X (Twitter) account, which you can find: @Moat_House